Giant Squid
Not to be confused with Squid. The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species. It should be noted that the colossal squid is actually the biggest, with the giant squid being the second(though giant squid are longer in length). Information In the Real World The giant squid remains largely a mystery to scientists despite being the biggest invertebrate on Earth. The largest of these elusive giants ever found measured 59 feet (18 meters) in length and weighed nearly a ton (900 kilograms). However, their inhospitable deep-sea habitat has made them uniquely difficult to study, and almost everything scientists know about them is from carcasses that have washed up on beaches or been hauled in by fishermen. Lately, however, the fortunes of scientists studying these elusive creatures have begun to turn. In 2004 researchers in Japan took the first images ever of a live giant squid. And in late 2006, scientists with Japan's National Science Museum caught and brought to the surface a live 24-foot (7-meter) female giant squid. Giant squid, along with their cousin, the colossal squid, have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, measuring some 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter. These massive organs allow them to detect objects in the lightless depths where most other animals would see nothing. Both also live in Antarctica and are difficult for scientist to find and research. Like other squid species, they have eight arms and two longer feeding tentacles that help them bring food to their beak-like mouths. Their diet likely consists of fish, shrimp, and other squid, and some suggest they might even attack and eat small whales. They maneuver their massive bodies with fins that seem diminutive for their size. They use their funnel as a propulsion system, drawing water into the mantle, or main part of the body, and forcing it out the back. Scientists don't know enough about these beasts to say for sure what their range is, but giant squid carcasses have been found in all of the world's oceans. In the ''Happy Feet'' franchise The Giant Squid appears for a short in Happy Feet Two ''when the Doomberg arrives at Emperor-Land and make the squid hide in a hole. The Giant Squid also appears as a boss in level 30 of ''Happy Feet Two: The Video Game. Gallery In the Real World= A giant squid attacking a bait squid.jpg|A giant squid attacking a bait squid Display_of_sperm_whale_and_giant_squid_battling_in_the_Museum_of_Natural_History.jpg|A diorama of a giant squid and a sperm whale in the Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History Giantsquidphoto2.png|One of the series of images of a live giant squid taken by Kubodera and Mori in 2004 |-|In the Movies= Happy-feet2-disneyscreencaps.com-3252.jpg|The giant squid in Happy Feet Two happy-feet2-disneyscreencaps.com-3256.jpg|The giant squid swiming away from a hole |-|Video Games= Giant Squid (HFTTVG).png|The giant squid in a cutscene of the game GS holding the ice to capture Erik.PNG|The Giant squid holding an iceberg to capture Erik Erik using Sventhink before the GS captures him.PNG|Erik using Sventhink before the Giant Squid captures him The Giant Squid captures Erik.PNG|The Giant Squid captures Erik Category:Species Category:Sea Creatures Category:Antagonists Category:Mollusks Category:Villains